Only  a  Dog 


ARMY,"    ONLY  A   DOG 


Only    a    Dog 

A  Story  of  the  Great  War 

By 

Bertha  Whitridge  Smith 

Author  of  "Traveller's  Tales" 


New  York 

E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co. 
681  Fifth  Avenue 


COPYRIGHT,  1917 

BY 
E.  P.  BUTTON   &   CO. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


So 

THOSE  DEVOTED  AMERICANS 

WHO  ARE  GIVING  THEIR  LIVES  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF 
SUFFERING   IN  EUROPE.      THEY  ARE   DWELL- 
ING  ON  THE  HILL-TOPS,  AND  IT   WILL  BE 
THEIR    PRIVILEGE  TO   SEE  THE  FIRST 

GLOW  OF  THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW 
WORLD  CONSCIENCE 


358023 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

This  story  of  the  bravery  of  a 
man,  the  faithfulness  of  a  dog, 
the  kind  heart  of  the  British 
Tommy,  and  the  wanton  cruelty 
of  the  German  "Hun,"  is  quite 
true,  and  was  given  to  me  by 
Major  Edgar,  R.  A.  M.  C.  (of 
Montreal)  with  his  kind  permis- 
sion to  elaborate  it  into  its  present 
form. 

It  all  happened  near  Armen- 
tieres  in  Flanders,  and  it  is  there, 
that  anyone  who  cares  to  look 
may  find  the  big  grave  with  the 

vii 


viii  AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

little  one  beside  it,  both  marked 
by  the  same  cross,  and  on  it  the 
legend 

NO.   678962 — PRIVATE   RICE 
AND 

"ARMY" 

Whatever  money  comes  from 
the  sale  of  this  little  book  will  be 
used  for  materials  to  make  dress- 
ings for  the  wounded  soldiers  of 
the  Allies,  and  it  is  perhaps  not 
too  much  to  hope  that  little 
Army's  life-story  may  be  the  means 
of  easing  the  suffering  of  many 
brave  soldiers  like  "P'te.  Rice." 

B.  W.  S. 


BISHOP  DOANE  ON  HIS  DOG 

I  am  quite  sure  he  thinks  that  I  am  God — 
Since  He  is  God  on  whom  each  one  depends 
For  life,  and  all  things  that  His  bounty  sends — 
My  dear  old  dog,  most  constant  of  all  friends; 
Not  too  quick  to  mind,  but  quicker  far  than  I 
To  Him  whom  God  I  know  and  own:  his  eye, 
Deep  brown  and  liquid,  watches  for  my  nod; 
He  is  more  patient  underneath  the  rod 
Than  I,  when  God  His  wise  corrections  sends. 
He  looks  love  at  me,  deep  as  words  e'er  spake: 
And  from  me  never  crumb  nor  sup  will  take 
But  he  wags  thanks  with  his  most  vocal  tail: 
And  when  some  crashing  noise  wakes  all  his  fear, 
He  is  content  and  quiet  if  I  am  near, 
Secure  that  my  protection  will  prevail. 
So,  faithful,  mindful,  thankful,  trustful,  he 
Tells  me  what  I  unto  my  God  should  be. 


Only  a  Dog 


Only  a  Dog 


"There  is  a  world  outside  the  one  you 
know."  — KIPLING. 

A  S I  lie  here  on  my  dear  Master's 
**  breast  waiting  for  him  to 
wake,  I  have  much  time  to  think 
of  all  that  has  happened  to  me, 
and  through  the  many  long  days, 
and  weary  dark  cold  nights,  I 
try  to  make  the  time  seem  shorter 
by  talking  it  all  out  to  myself. 
I  have  sometimes  heard  People 

say,  "He's  only  a  dog,  never  mind 
i 


2  ONLY  A  DOG 

about  him,"  and  I  do  wonder 
why  they  speak  so,  because  really 
it  seems  to  me  that  we  are  wiser 
than  they  are.  It  is  true  we  can- 
not speak  their  language  any  more 
than  they  can  ours,  but  we  do  un- 
derstand almost  everythirig  they 
say,  and  try  as  we  may  we  cannot 
make  them  understand  us,  except 
the  very  easy  things  about  being 
tired  or  hungry,  or  something  like 
that.  Once  in  a  while  we  do  find 
someone  like  my  dear  Master  lying 
here,  who  talks  to  us  just  as  if  he 
knew  we  had  real  deep  thoughts 
and  could  appreciate  his.  However, 
all  this  is  neither  here  nor  there  un- 
til I  have  told  my  story. 


ONLY  A  DOG  3 

I  was  born  in  a  most  beautiful 
place,  the  "CMteau  deT— "  they 
called  it,  and  unlike  many  little 
dogs  I  was  allowed  to  stay  long 
enough  with  my  Mother  to  learn 
how  to  behave,  and  how  to  take 
many  things  in  the  world,  which 
often  trouble  us  young  ones  very 
much  indeed.  She  used  to  say, 
"You  must  always  remember, my 
child,  that  People  have  the  power 
to  make  your  life  happy  or  miser- 
able, and  that  if  you  always  try 
to  behave  well,  and  do  what  you 
are  told,  you  will  generally  be  well 
treated.  Of  course  there  are  some 
cruel  men  who  take  pleasure  in 
tormenting  us,  and  when  you  meet 


4  ONLY  A  DOG 

that  kind  you  will  be  justified  in 
using  all  the  means  of  defence  that 
Nature  gave  you.  You  have  very 
sharp  claws  and  still  sharper  teeth, 
and  will  generally  be  able  to  make 
People  very  much  afraid  of  you, 
if  you  use  them.  But  when  you 
find  a  good  kind  master,  be  obedi- 
ent to  him,  and  faithful  to  the 
death. " 

Another  thing  she  told  me,  was, 
that  although  I  had  been  born  in 
France  I  was  really  an  Irishman, 
and  could  hold  up  my  tail  with 
the  best-bred  poodle  in  this 
country,  and  that  I  must  never 
allow  myself  to  be  overawed  by 
any  of  their  grand  airs,  but  let 


ONLY  A  DOG  5 

them  know  that  I  had  the  finest 
forbears  a  dog  could  have.  I  have 
always  been  very  glad  she  told 
me  this,  because  when  I  have 
seen  one  of  those  poodles  with 
carved  hair  and  waxed  mustaches, 
looking  like  a  bloomin'  Punch  and 
Judy  show,  come  tiptoeing  to- 
wards me,  I  have  felt  sure  that  it 
was  all  right  for  me  to  tiptoe  up 
to  him,  with  the  same  air  of 
insolence,  and  to  give  him  what- 
for. 

When  I  left  my  Mother,  I  went 
to  live  in  a  much  smaller  house 
than  the  Chateau,  but  quite  near 
by,  so  that  I  was  often  taken  to 
see  her.  I  lived  with  two  very 


6  ONLY  A  DOG 

nice  kind  children,  a  boy  and  a  girl, 
and  they  took  me  with  them 
wherever  they  went,  even  if  it 
were  as  far  as  Paris  or  London, 
so  that  I  saw  a  great  deal  of  the 
world. 

We  had  been  very  happy  to- 
gether for  a  number  of  years, 
when  there  came  a  hot  morning  in 
midsummer  and  all  of  us  in  the 
breakfast  room  together.  All  at 
once  I  heard  my  oldest  Master 
make  a  loud  exclamation;  some- 
thing about  "War"  having  come 
at  last,  and  that  his  uniform  must 
be  got  ready  as  he  would  have  to 
go  to  Paris  immediately  to  join 
his  regiment. 


ONLY  A  DOG  7 

I  did  not  quite  understand  what 
all  this  meant,  so  I  was  pleased 
when  my  youngest  Master  called 
out,  "Mon  Pere,  what  do  you 
mean  by  your  uniform?'*  and  to 
hear  his  Father  say,  "My  soldier 
clothes,  little  Jean.  Papa  has  to  go 
to  war  and  be  a  soldier. " 

My  little  Master  and  I  both 
knew  from  the  anxious  looks  of 
the  family,  that  this  must  be 
something  very  sad  and  sorrowful, 
and  when  we  went  out  to  the 
garden  together,  he  threw  himself 
on  the  ground  and  putting  his  arms 
around  me  cried,  "Oh!  boy!  my 
dear  Irish  boy!  I  am  afraid  my 
Papa  will  be  killed !"  I  licked 


8  ONLY  A  DOG 

him  and  nuzzled  him  all  I  could 
to  show  my  sympathy,  and  I  did 
seem  to  be  a  comfort  to  him. 

After  this,  things  began  to 
happen  very  quickly,  and  hardly 
had  the  oldest  Master  gone,  than 
soldiers  began  to  come  to  the 
house.  Every  time  they  came, 
they  took  something  away  with 
them.  The  day  they  took  the 
horses  from  the  stable,  Jean  and  I 
stood  watching  them,  and  suddenly 
he  turned  to  me  and  said,  "Oh! 
my  boy!  they  might  want  to  take 
you  too!  Run!  run  quickly,  and 
hide!"  pointing  to  a  place  in  the 
shrubbery.  I  felt  very  rebellious 
at  this,  for  it  looked  too  much  like 


ONLY  A  DOG  9 

being  a  coward  to  suit  me,  so  I 
only  looked  at  him  and  did  not 
move.  But  when  he  stamped  his 
foot  angrily,  and  said,  "Go!"  in 
a  loud  voice,  I  thought  best  to 
humour  him  and  turned  to  obey. 
Just  as  I  did  so  one  of  the  soldiers 
noticed  me,  and  called  to  his 
officer  to  ask  if  he  should  take 
me. 

Now  I  did  not  at  all  want  to  go 
away  with  those  strange  men, 
even  though  they  were  taking  my 
friends  from  the  stable,  so  I  just 
laid  myself  down  at  my  little 
Master's  feet,  hoping  they  would 
see  that  I  could  not  leave  him. 
The  officer  took  a  good  look  at  me, 


io  ONLY  A  DOG 

and  another  at  little  Jean,  and 
then  I  was  much  relieved  to  hear 
him  say,  "No,  we  will  not  take  him, 
I  think  the  child  needs  him  more 
than  we  do;  though  he  looks  a 
good  sort." 

After  this  day,  we  soon  began 
to  hear  sounds  like  thunder  in  the 
distance,  and  as  I  never  did  like 
thunder  I  was  glad  enough  to  stay 
inside  the  house,  especially  as  the 
queerest  kind  of  procession  be- 
gan to  go  by.  Men,  women,  and 
children,  cows,  pigs,  old  lame 
horses,  and  often  dogs  and  cats, 
and  once  in  a  while  birds,  carried 
in  open  boxes;  and  everybody 
hung  all  over  with  bundles  or 


ONLY  A  DOG  n 

babies.  Even  the  children,  and 
the  dogs,  had  almost  more  than 
they  could  carry,  and  many  of 
them  dragged  heavily  loaded  little 
carts  as  well. 

As  we  sat  in  the  window  and 
watched  all  these  things,  I  did 
long  to  ask  my  youngest  Master 
what  it  all  meant,  but  of  course 
it  wasn't  any  use  to  try,  even  if 
he  had  been  able  to  explain,  and 
so  I  made  up  my  mind  to  listen 
to  everything  I  could  hear.  In 
this  way  I  learned  that  the  War 
had  begun  in  earnest,  and  was 
coming  closer  and  closer  to  us, 
and  that  all  these  people  we  saw 
were  leaving  their  nice  comfortable 


12  ONLY  A  DOG 

homes,  because  they  were  afraid 
of  the  "  Germans. " 

I  did  wonder  what  a  "German" 
was,  so  I  kept  my  ears  wide  open, 
and  when  one  day  Marie  the 
cook  came  running  to  my  oldest 
Mistress  calling  out,  " Madame! 
Madame!  the  Germans!"  I  flew 
out  into  the  garden  to  see  for 
myself.  Rushing  to  the  gate  which 
stood  open,  I  looked  down  the 
road,  and  saw  away  off  in  the 
distance  a  big  cloud  of  dust,  and 
as  I  kept  on  looking  very  hard,  I 
presently  made  out  big  black 
horses,  with  big  men  on  them,  who 
wore  queer  shining  pointed  caps 
on  their  heads. 


ONLY  A  DOG  13 

I  was  so  excited  I  trembled  all 
over  from  head  to  foot,  but  I  did 
not  feel  afraid,  and  remembered 
to  hold  my  tail  well  up  in  case 
they  should  be  like  those  impudent 
poodles.  When  they  came  up  to 
me,  partly  because  I  was  so  excited 
and  partly  because  I  felt  un- 
accountably savage,  I  bared  my 
teeth,  and  gave  the  deepest  growl 
I  knew  how,  and  this  must  have 
made  them  angry,  for  the  head 
one  leaned  over  the  side  of  his 
horse  and  hit  me  so  hard  with  a 
kind  of  gleaming  stick  he  carried 
in  his  hand,  the  blood  ran,  and  I 
was  rolled  over  and  over  on  the 
ground.  I  should  have  been 


14  ONLY  A  DOG 

trampled  to  death  under  the  horses' 
feet,  if  I  hadn't  jumped  up  very 
quickly,  and  dashed  back  through 
the  gate  to  the  house,  where  my 
oldest  Mistress,  who  was  standing 
at  the  door,  caught  me  in  her  arms. 
They  stopped  at  the  gate,  those 
"Germans/*  and  the  head  one 
called  out  in  the  roughest  voice 
I  ever  heard,  that  ten  of  them 
would  eat  and  sleep,  and  to  get 
ready!  I  did  wonder  how  my 
oldest  Mistress  could  answer  them 
as  sweetly  as  she  did,  but  she 
welcomed  them  and  gave  them 
everything  they  wanted. 

Late  that  night  they  seemed  to 
be  making  a  great  deal  of  noise, 


ONLY  A  DOG  15 

and  I  thought  I  heard  women's 
voices  screaming,  but  as  I  had 
been  shut  up  in  the  tool-house 
outside  in  the  garden,  I  could  not 
be  sure;  and  when  after  a  long, 
long  time  the  noises  stopped,  I 
fell  asleep. 


II 

"Smells  are  surer  than  sounds  or  sights 
To  make  your  heart-strings  crack — 
They  start  those  awful  voices  o 'nights 
That  whisper,  .  .  ." 

— KIPLING. 

"\  A  7HEN  I  awoke  I  could  see  out 
of  the  high  window  that  the 
sun  was  shining,  and  I  wanted 
very  much  to  get  out  of  the  tool- 
house.  I  whined  and  whined, 
hoping  somebody  would  hear  me, 
and  I  was  very  sure  that  if  my 
youngest  Master  could  hear  me, 
he  at  least  would  understand,  but 
nobody  came  and  it  was  so  silent 

16 


ONLY  A  DOG  17 

I  grew  more  and  more  miserable, 
and  being  very  hungry  and  fright- 
ened, I  barked  finally,  just  as  loud 
as  I  could. 

If  there  was  any  one  to  hear, 
they  certainly  did  not  understand, 
for  nobody  came  to  help  me,  and 
after  a  while  when  I  was  quite 
tired  out  with  barking  and  scratch- 
ing, I  lay  down  to  think  what  was 
best  to  be  done.  I  suppose  I  slept 
again,  for  when  I  noticed  once 
more,  I  could  see  from  the  look  of 
the  sunshine  that  it  must  be  quite 
late  in  the  day,  and  the  only  sound 
I  could  hear,  though  I  listened 
with  my  ears  at  their  very  highest, 
was  the  humming  of  the  bees 


18  ONLY  A  DOG 

around   their  hives   in    the    gar- 
den. 

I  looked  around  me  carefully 
for  some  way  of  escape,  and  notic- 
ing on  the  door  the  piece  of  iron 
which  fastened  it,  and  remember- 
ing that  my  little  Master  used  to 
lift  it  when  he  wanted  to  get  out, 
I  wondered  if  I  couldn't  push  it 
up  with  my  nose.  It  was  very 
high  above  my  head,  but  as  it 
seemed  the  only  way,  I  deter- 
mined to  try,  so  again  and  again 
I  jumped,  and  jumped,  without  the 
least  success.  I  did  not  despair, 
however,  but  just  decided  to  take 
a  rest  and  then  to  gather  all  my 
strength  for  one  big  leap,  so  get- 


"  I  wondered  if  I  couldn't  push  it  up  with  my  nose." 
19 


20  ONLY  A  DOG 

ting  my  legs  under  me  and  as  near 
under  the  iron  piece  as  I  could, 
I  made  one  grand  effort  and 
wonder  of  wonders!  succeeded. 
The  door  opened  a  small  crack 
and  to  push  it  wide  was  easy,  but 
I  did  it  slowly  and  with  great 
caution,  for  I  was  filled  with  an 
anxiety  and  dread  I  could  not 
understand,  and  put  my  head  out 
to  look  around  before  I  ventured 
any  more.  I  could  see  that  the 
garden  was  all  trampled,  but  no 
one  seemed  to  be  near,  so  I  came 
out  slowly  and  smelled  about,  and 
found  that  horses  and  men  both 
had  been  trampling  the  grass  my 
oldest  Mistress  was  so  fond  of, 


ONLY  A  DOG  21 

and    had    broken   all   the   lovely 
flowers. 

As  I  still  saw  no  signs  of  People, 
and  was  very  hungry  and  still 
more  thirsty,  I  crept  slowly  to 
the  house  where  the  door  hung 
wide  open,  and  just  inside,  as 
usual  my  bowl,  with  only  a  few 
drops  of  water.  I  lapped  these 
eagerly;  then  feeling  better  took 
courage  to  seek  further  for  my 
little  Master  or  some  of  the  family. 
Still  creeping  silently,  though  I 
did  not  quite  know  why,  I  went 
through  the  hall  where  things 
seemed  to  be  much  as  usual,  and 
then  to  the  breakfast  room  where 
there  was  the  most  dreadful  mess 


22  ONLY  A  DOG 

over  everything,  of  plates,  and 
food,  and  broken  china,  and  glass. 
Hungry  and  worried  as  I  was,  I 
could  not  help  wondering  how  it 
was  that  my  careful  oldest  Mis- 
tress could  have  left  the  place  in 
such  a  condition. 

I  tried  to  eat  some  pieces  of 
food  I  found  on  the  floor,  but 
everything  had  a  very  odd  taste, 
and  such  a  strong  smell  it  made 
me  sneeze  and  feel  quite  sick,  so  I 
went  on  from  room  to  room,  still 
seeing  no  one  and  unable  to  smell 
any  of  my  dear  People,  because 
of  that  horrid  sickening  stuff, 
whatever  it  was. 

At  last  I  came  to  the  little  room 


ONLY  A  DOG  23 

where  I  had  been  accustomed  to 
stay  so  much  with  my  youngest 
Master,  and  to  lie  and  sleep  before 
the  fire  while  he  amused  himself. 
As  I  crept  across  the  floor,  I  saw 
that  somebody  was  lying  on  the 
couch  at  the  other  side,  but  I  could 
not  quite  tell  whether  it  was  my 
oldest  Mistress,  or  Marie  the  cook; 
and  just  then  my  foot  touched 
something  wet  on  the  floor.  I 
put  down  my  nose  to  smell,  and 
quickly  realized  that  it  was  blood 
I  had  stepped  into!  Now  blood 
had  always  seemed  to  me  a  very 
delicious  kind  of  food,  particularly 
the  fresh  blood  of  a  nice  young 
chicken  when  once  in  a  while  I 


24  ONLY  A  DOG 

had  managed  to  steal  off  by  myself 
and  kill  one,  but  somehow  this 
did  not  tempt  me  at  all.  It  had  a 
most  peculiar  smell  and  I  felt 
quite  sickened  again,  so  I  drew 
back  and  tried  to  get  to  the  couch 
another  way,  and  finally  got  so 
near  that  by  stretching  out  my 
neck  I  could  touch  a  hand,  which 
hung  down  almost  to  the  floor. 

The  light  was  too  dim  to  see 
clearly,  but  I  knew  it  was  a  hand, 
and  on  it  there  was  again  that 
dreadful  blood  I  could  not  bear  to 
taste,  so  I  reached  a  little  further 
and  nuzzled  at  the  arm,  and  made 
sure  it  was  my  oldest  Mistress 
lying  there,  though  in  spite  of 


ONLY  A  DOG  25 

whines  and  scratches,  and  little 
barks,  I  could  not  make  her  speak. 
I  waited,  and  waited,  until  it 
grew  quite  dark  and  there  was  not 
a  sound, — not  in  the  room,  nor 
in  the  whole  house,  nor  outside, — 
and  I  began  to  tremble  and  to  get 
more  frightened,  until  at  last  I 
felt  I  could  not  bear  it  another 
second,  and  I  crept  out  of  the 
room,  trying  not  to  touch  that 
dreadful  blood. 

I  knew  that  it  was  my  work  to 
look  further  for  my  little  Master, 
and  to  search  upstairs  where  he 
might  be  needing  me,  so  gathering 
my  courage  as  best  I  could,  I  went 
fearfully  up  the  stairs  and  from 


26  ONLY  A  DOG 

room  to  room,  finding  not  a  sign 
of  any  that  I  loved,  and  only  dirt 
and  disorder,  and  the  beds  all 
flung  about.  After  searching 
everywhere,  I  gave  it  up  and 
pattered  down  again,  and  as  I 
passed  the  door  of  the  little  room, 
an  unaccountable  terror  seized 
me.  I  felt  my  hair  rising  all  along 
my  back,  and  then  there  seemed 
to  be  Something,  or  Somebody,  I 
could  not  see,  and  I  flew  through 
the  hall,  and  out  the  big  door, 
bumping  against  things  but  not 
minding;  through  the  garden,  and 
out  through  the  open  gate  to  the 
road.  Down  the  road  I  ran — and 
ran — and  ran — and  ran,  and  the 


ONLY  A  DOG  27 

faster  I  went,  the  faster  the  terror 
seemed  to  come  after  me. 

As  I  look  back,  it  seems  to  me 
that  I  ran  the  whole  night  through, 
but  I  suppose  I  must  have  stopped 
to  breathe  sometimes,  and  all  the 
time  I  never  met  a  soul,  because 
if  I  came  near  anything  I  thought 
might  be  human  I  turned  another 
way,  or  crept  into  a  bush.  All  the 
sadness  and  trouble  had  come 
since  I  had  heard  so  much  about 
''Germans,"  and  my  own  experi- 
ences had  taught  me  already  that 
I  could  not  give  them  too  wide  a 
berth,  for  good  fighter  as  I  knew 
myself  to  be,  I  was  powerless 
among  them.  At  last  I  was  so 


28  ONLY  A  DOG 

exhausted  I  felt  I  could  run  no 
more,  and  as  the  day  had  begun 
to  dawn  and  to  light  up  the  black 
darkness,  I  felt  less  afraid,  and 
determined  to  lie  down  and  rest 
if  I  could  only  find  a  place  where 
I  might  feel  safe.  In  the  distance 
I  could  see  the  outlines  of  houses, 
and  knew  there  must  be  a  village, 
but  I  did  not  want  to  go  near  it 
until  it  was  bright  day,  when  I 
could  perhaps  tell  something  about 
the  People,  whether  they  were 
friends,  or  that  terrible  enemy. 
So  I  ran  into  a  thick  lot  of  trees 
and  bushes  near  by.  After  scratch- 
ing a  bed  together  as  best  I  could, 
I  lay  down  without  much  fuss  of 


ONLY  A  DOG  29 

turning  and  choosing,  being  too 
utterly  tired  out  to  care,  and 
shutting  my  eyes,  I  tried  to  think 
a  little  about  what  I  should  do  to 
find  my  dear  family. 


Ill 

"  Towns  without  people,  ten  times  took, 
An*  ten  times  left  an'  burned  at  last! 
An'  starvin*  dogs  that  came  to  look 
For  owners,  when  a  column  passed — " 
— KIPLING. 

I"  DID  not  succeed  in  doing  much 
thinking,  because  as  soon  as  I 
closed  my  eyes  I  saw  that  dreadful 
room  again,  and  my  poor  oldest 
Mistress  lying  there  on  the  couch! 
Then  I  tried  to  keep  my  eyes 
open,  but  I  could  not,  and  in  spite 
of  the  horrors  and  fears  I  fell 
asleep. 

It  seemed  only  a  moment,  but 
30 


ONLY  A  DOG  31 

must  have  been  a  good  long  time, 
because  when  I  came  to  myself, 
the  sun  was  shining  quite  high 
up  in  the  sky,  and  feeling  very 
sore  and  tired  still,  I  crept  out  of 
the  bushes  into  the  warmth  of  the 
sunshine  and  sat  down  to  think 
what  I  should  do.  I  was  very 
hungry  and  quickly  decided  that 
the  first  thing  was  to  find  some- 
thing to  eat,  and  that  unless  there 
was  something  to  hunt  in  the  wood 
where  I  had  slept,  I  must  try  to 
find  some  kind  People  in  those 
houses,  which  looked  nearer  in  the 
daylight. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  dis- 
cover that  there  were  only  birds 


32  ONLY  A  DOG 

in  the  wood,  and  though  I  had 
sometimes  caught  them,  it  was  no 
use  to  try  now  when  I  felt  so  sore 
and  lame,  so  I  crept  cautiously 
towards  the  houses,  keeping  under 
bushes,  in  case  I  saw  a  "German." 
As  no  one  seemed  to  be  about, 
however,  my  courage  began  to  rise 
and  I  trotted  along  a  little  faster, 
until  I  came  to  a  house  which 
stood  a  little  way  out  of  the  village 
by  itself,  and  I  went  around  it 
carefully  to  see  what  I  could  find. 
Just  as  I  had  nearly  given  up  hope 
of  finding  anything,  I  saw  the 
door  of  the  house  open,  a  little 
crack  at  first,  and  then  wide 
enough  for  a  queer-looking  old 


ONLY  A  DOG  33 

woman  to  put  her  head  out.  She 
looked  about  her  just  the  way  / 
had  done  when  I  got  out  of  the 
tool-house,  so  I  could  understand 
just  how  she  was  feeling,  and  I 
wondered  if  she  had  been  fright- 
ened by  the  "Germans"  too.  At 
any  rate  I  did  not  feel  at  all 
afraid  of  her,  and  as  she  came  out 
of  the  door,  I  walked  up  to  her 
wagging  my  tail,  and  trying  in 
every  possible  way  to  make  her 
see  what  I  wanted. 

She  looked  at  me  in  an  odd  sort 
of  way,  and  I  heard  her  whisper 
1 '  pauvre  chien — pauvre  chien , ' f 
then  she  bent  down  and  tried  to 
brush  some  of  the  dirt  off  me,  but 


34  ONLY  A  DOG 

though  I  knew  I  must  be  a  sight, 
what  I  wanted  most  was  food  and 
drink.  I  looked  very  hard  in  her 
face  and  whined  the  little  low 
whine  which  means  distress,  hop- 
ing she  would  understand,  but  she 
did  not  seem  to,  so  I  pushed  past 
her  into  the  house.  I  went  smell- 
ing about  everywhere  until  I  found 
a  cupboard,  with  half-open  door, 
where  on  a  low  shelf  there  was  a 
large  piece  of  bread  and  a  piece  of 
bone,  which  I  could  easily  reach, 
though  I  did  not  know  if  I  might 
have  it. 

As  the  woman  did  not  come  in 
after  me  I  thought  she  couldn't 
care  much,  so  I  snatched  the 


ONLY  A  DOG  35 

bread  and  gulped  it  down  in  great 
pieces  which  nearly  choked  me, 
and  when  I  had  finished  it,  I  took 
the  bone  and  went  out  of  the  door, 
where  the  woman  was  still  standing 
just  as  I  had  left  her.  She  did  not 
seem  to  see  me,  so  I  lay  down  near 
her  and  began  to  gnaw  the  bits  of 
meat,  and  as  I  worried  over  the 
bone,  I  watched  her,  and  saw  her 
draw  her  hand  across  her  eyes 
several  times  as  if  she  were  trying 
to  wake.  Then  I  heard  her  say 
again,  in  the  same  odd  whisper, 
"  Pauvre,  pauvre  chienl  art  thou 
too,  like  me,  terrified  and  alone? 
Hast  thou  heard  sounds  and  seen 
sights  to  madden  thee?  Are  all  thy 


36  ONLY  A  DOG 

dear  ones  gone  too,  and  thyself 
better  dead,  as  they  are?" 

All  the  time  I  worked  over  the 
bone,  she  stood  there  just  the 
same,  whispering  once  in  a  while, 
and  sometimes  I  caught  a  word 
or  two,  like  "Jtsu,"  and  "Pittt." 
When  I  had  quite  finished  and 
had  found  a  drink  from  some  water 
in  the  yard,  I  went  over  to  her 
and  rubbed  myself  against  her, 
and  licked  her  hand,  and  pulled 
at  her  skirt,  but  she  never  noticed 
me  more  than  to  pat  my  head  a 
little,  so  at  last  I  gave  it  up,  for 
though  I  felt  very  grateful  to 
her  for  the  food  and  very  sorry 
for  her,  she  did  not  belong  to 


ONLY  A  DOG  37 

me,  and  I  knew  I  must  hurry 
on. 

I  went  away  slowly,  looking 
back  now  and  again,  hoping  she 
would  call  me,  but  she  just  stood 
there  quite  still,  and  I  could  see 
she  was  not  thinking  of  me,  at  all. 

From  there  I  went  on  through 
the  village  and  was  astonished  to 
find  that  the  houses  were  only 
broken  walls,  and  that  inside  were 
only  heaps  of  stones  and  broken 
things,  and  not  a  Person  anywhere. 
I  went  on  and  on  from  house  to 
house  noticing  that  some  were 
blackened  by  fire,  and  others  just 
knocked  down,  as  I  had  often  seen 
my  youngest  Master  knock  down 


38  ONLY  A  DOG 

his  block  houses,  and  when  I  had 
got  quite  to  the  other'  end,  I  was 
rejoiced  to  see  another  dog.  I 
ran  up  to  him,  and  though  at 
first  he  was  not  friendly,  when  I 
talked  to  him  and  told  him  all  I 
had  been  through  and  how  com- 
pletely I  was  lost,  he  became  very 
willing  to  talk  to  me.  I  asked  all 
about  the  village  and  whether  he 
had  lived  here  before,  and  when  I 
found  he  had,  I  thought  he  might 
know  whether  it  was  anywhere 
near  the  Chateau  de  T — ,  which 
was  the  place  where  I  thought  I 
might  possibly  find  some  of  my 
dear  People,  if  only  I  could  learn 
the  way. 


41 1  asked  him  if  it  was  Germans  who  had  done  all  this 
to  his  village." 

39 


40  ONLY  A  DOG 

He  did  not  know  and,  like  the 
old  woman,  did  .not  seem  to  mind 
very  much  about  anything.  He 
refused  to  come  with  me,  because, 
he  said,  he  must  stay  by  what  had 
been  his  home,  in  case  any  of  his 
People  came  back.  I  asked  him  if 
it  was  "  Germans "  who  had  done 
all  this  to  his  village,  but  he  was 
evidently  not  educated,  for  he  did 
not  seem  to  understand,  and  just 
laid  himself  down  quite  hopelessly 
on  a  very  uncomfortable  pile  of 
stones  in  his  house,  so  I  said  I 
must  run  on. 


IV 

"Rivers  at  night  that  cluck  an*  jeer, 
Plains  which  the  moonshine  turns  to  sea, 
Mountains  which  never  let  you  near. 
An'  stars  to  all  eternity — " 

— KIPLING. 

1  TROTTED  up  and  down  about 
the  country  all  that  day,  with- 
out ever  coming  to  the  Chateau 
or  any  place  that  looked  at  all 
familiar,  and  I  spent  the  night  as 
before  under  some  bushes. 

When  morning   came  again,   I 

found   I   was   in   quite   an   open 

country  with  no  houses  anywhere 

that  I  could  see,  and  chasing  about 

41 


42  ONLY  A  DOG 

after  food  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  catch  a  couple  of  field-mice 
which  I  ate  bones  and  all,  though 
I  had  never  deigned  to  eat  such 
food  before.  Finding  a  nice  clear 
brook,  I  had  a  good  long  drink, 
and  then  I  laid  down  in  the  water 
and  had  a  good  soak,  for  it  was 
the  first  time  I  had  been  able 
even  to  try  to  clean  myself  since  I 
had  been  rolled  under  the  hoofs 
of  that  big  black  horse,  by  that 
dreadful  shining  stick. 

As  the  country  seemed  so  open, 
I  decided  to  go  up  to  the  top  of  a 
high  hill  I  saw  in  the  distance, 
thinking  that  from  there  I  might 
see  the  towers  of  the  Chateau  de 


ONLY  A  DOG  43 

T — .  I  trotted  along  in  the  hot  sun 
for  hours  without  the  hill  appear- 
ing to  be  much  nearer,  and  got 
quite  discouraged,  for  I  hadn't 
dreamed  it  would  be  so  far.  But 
I  never  was  one  to  give  up  easily, 
and  so  I  trotted  on,  and  on,  and 
late  in  the  afternoon  found  myself 
at  last,  at  the  very  top.  When  I 
looked  over  the  other  side  of  the 
hill,  there  was  no  sign  of  anything 
like  the  Chateau  as  I  had  hoped, 
but  far  off  in  the  distance  I  saw 
what  I  thought  must  be  a  town, 
and  still  beyond  that  a  river, 
winding  at  the  foot  of  hills  much 
higher  than  the  one  I  was  on. 
I  sat  down  to  rest,  and  to  look, 


44  ONLY  A  DOG 

and  consider  what  I  should  do. 
If  I  stayed  out  in  a  place  like  this 
by  myself  I  should  certainly  starve 
before  long,  and  not  be  able  to  find 
any  of  my  dear  People,  so  I 
thought  I  had  better  try  to  get 
to  the  town  where  perhaps  some 
Person  might  be  kind  to  me,  and 
where  if  I  listened  carefully  to  all 
that  People  said,  I  might  hear 
something  about  what  had  hap- 
pened to  my  little  Master. 

I  went  down  the  hill  as  fast  as 
I  could,  for  I  knew  that  if  I  did 
not  find  the  town  before  the  dark 
came,  I  should  lose  my  way  and 
perhaps  never  find  it;  just  the 
same  as  I  lost  my  own  house, 


ONLY  A  DOG  45 

because  I  ran  away  in  such  a 
fright  in  the  night  and  never 
looked  where  I  was  going. 

When  I  got  to  the  bottom  of  the 
hill,  and  found  myself  all  alone  in 
the  open,  with  not  even  a  bush  to 
give  me  cover,  I  did  feel  nervous, 
but  it  was  no  use  to  give  way  to 
that,  besides,  so  far  as  I  could  see 
there  was  not  a  Person  anywhere. 
Indeed  I  could  not  even  see  any 
animals  either,  and  it  did  seem 
strange  when  I  came  to  think 
about  it  that  I  had  seen  so  few 
animals  anywhere  I  had  been. 
It  made  me  feel  that  there  must  be 
something  very  wrong  somewhere, 
if  even  the  little  beasts  in  the 


46  ONLY  A  DOG 

fields  had  to  hide  or  fly  for  their 
lives.  When  I  had  begun  to  think 
about  this,  I  got  more  worried 
than  ever,  and  stopped  to  look 
around  me  once  more. 

There  was  still  the  town  in 
front  of  me,  and  off  to  one  side 
from  that,  the  river  and  the  moun- 
tains, just  as  I  had  seen  them  from 
the  hill-top.  Between  me  and  the 
town,  there  was  a  long  flat  plain 
which  seemed  to  be  all  dust  and 
dirt,  and  just  two  ridges,  not  very 
high;  they  hardly  looked  higher 
to  me  than  the  ridges  the  men 
make  in  the  fields  when  they 
plough.  But  these  were  very  far 
apart. 


ONLY  A  DOG  47 

I  decided  after  a  bit  that  I 
would  go  right  down  the  middle 
of  that  ground  between  the  ridges, 
as  it  seemed  my  straightest  way 
to  the  town;  so  I  pulled  myself 
together  once  more,  and  remem- 
bered to  keep  my  tail  well  up  and 
my  head  too  so  that  I  could  see, 
and  with  my  ears  pricked  high  for 
listening,  I  trotted  on  as  bravely 
as  I  could.  I  know  now  only  too 
well  that  the  path  I  had  chosen 
was  the  deadly  "No  Man's  Land" 
which  lay  between  the  British 
and  the  German1  trenches,  and 
that  my  nervous  fears  had  a  firmer 
foundation  than  I  dreamed;  but 
I  have  heard  People  say  that 


48  ONLY  A  DOG 

"Ignorance  is  bliss, "  and  it  was 
like  that  with  me,  so  on  I  went. 

The  sun  at  this  time  was  nearly 
down  to  the  tops  of  the  hills,  and 
as  it  was  shining  directly  in  my 
eyes,  it  was  very  hard  for  me  to 
see.  I  was  thinking  how  glad  I 
should  be  when  it  was  gone,  when 
I  heard  nice  kind  English  voices 
coming  faintly  from  I  knew  not 
where,  and  then  a  louder  whistling 
call,  which  I  understood  very  well 
as  an  invitation,  so  I  turned  to 
run  to  the  place  from  which  I 
thought  it  sounded.  As  I  turned, 
I  heard  a  whizzing  something 
come  from  behind  me  and  rush 
through  the  air  just  above  my 


ONLY  A  DOG  49 

head,  and  then  another,  and  an- 
other, and  then  laughter,  which 
seemed  to  be  quite  far  away  and 
also  behind  me.  My  eyes  were 
too  blinded  by  the  sun  to  see, 
even  if  I  had  dared  to  stop  and 
look,  so  I  tried  to  run  even  faster 
towards  the  kind  whistling  voices, 
which  were  louder  and  kinder 
than  before,  when  I  was  suddenly 
knocked  off  my  feet,  and  rolled 
over,  by  a  terrible  blow  which 
took  my  breath  away. 

When  I  came  to  myself,  the 
sun  was  gone  and  it  was  fast 
growing  dusk,  but  remembering 
the  friendly  voices  I  tried  to  get 
on  my  legs  again,  and  was  dis- 

4 


50  ONLY  A  DOG 

mayed  to  find  after  many  at- 
tempts, that  all  I  could  do  was 
to  sit  up  a  very  little,  as  my  hind 
legs  were  quite  useless  and  the 
blood  running  from  them.  For  a 
minute  after  this  I  lost  my  courage 
entirely  and,  lifting  up  my  head, 
I  uttered  one  long  howl  of  despair, 
but  only  one,  for  as  soon  as  I  had 
done  this,  there  came  more  of 
those  whizzing  things  falling  near 
me,  so  I  lay  down  again  and  kept 
very  quiet,  hoping  it  would  soon 
be  dark,  and  that  I  could  die  in 
peace,  if  die  I  must. 

Just  as  I  had  made  up  my  mind 
to  this,  I  heard  from  in  front  of 
me  a  dear  kind  English  voice, 


ONLY  A  DOG  51 

calling  in  a  whisper,  "Come,  boy! 
come!"  but  alas!  I  could  not 
come,  which  the  owner  of  the 
voice  seemed  to  understand,  for  he 
kept  on  whispering  kind  encourag- 
ing words,  and  they  sounded  nearer 
and  nearer,  until  at  last  I  saw 
in  the  dim  light  that  a  man,  the 
colour  of  the  earth  itself,  was 
coming  towards  me,  crawling  and 
wriggling  on  the  ground  the  way 
snakes  come,  and  as  soon  as  he 
was  near  enough  he  took  me  very 
carefully  in  his  arms.  "Poor 
little  laddie/'  he  said  softly,  "did 
those  d — d  beastly  'Uns  try  ter 
shoot  yer?  They  shan't  'urt  yer 
any  more,  if  Rice  P-t-e-  can  'elp 


52  ONLY  A  DOG 

it,"  and  with  that  he  had  got  me 
somehow  on  his  shoulders,  and 
was  squirming  back  the  way  he 
came.  I  did  suffer  dreadfully, 
but  determined  not  to  make  any 
sound,  for  I  had  already  learned 
that  if  I  did,  there  would  be  more 
of  those  bullets  (as  I  afterwards 
knew  they  were  called)  coming 
after  us;  and,  as  it  was,  I  have 
never  understood  how  we  got 
through  safely.  When  we  got  to 
the  edge  of  what  had  looked  to 
me  like  a  ridge,  more  kind  voices 
called  out,  quite  loud  this  time, 
"Well  done,  Rice!  well  done,  old 
man!"  and  reaching  out  strong 
hands,  they  caught  him  and  me 


ONLY  A  DOG  53 

together,    and    pulled    us    down 
inside. 

It  was  almost  dark  in  that  place, 
but  I  could  just  see  that  there 
were  many  men,  and  heard  them 
ask  somebody  if  they  might  give 
' '  them ' '  what-for !  Then  a  second 
after  there  was  the  loudest  sound 
I  ever  heard  in  my  life,  and  I 
knew  no  more. 


"An*  quiet  'omesick  talks  between 
— Men,  met  by  night,  you  never  knew 
Until — -'is  face — by  shell  fire  seen — , 
Once — an'  struck  off.    They  taught  me 
too" 

—  KIPLING. 

\  A  7HEN  I  again  became  con- 
scious of  what  was  going 
on  around  me,  I  felt  that  my  hind 
legs  were  all  wrapped  up  so  that 
I  could  not  even  try  to  move 
them,  and  I  was  lying  somewhere 
in  the  dark,  alone.  There  was 
nothing  I  could  do,  so  I  had  to 
wait  as  patiently  as  I  could,  and 

54 


ONLY  A  DOG  55 

it  was  not  so  very  long,  for 
presently  I  heard  men's  voices  and 
saw  a  faint  light. 

One  of  the  men  came  and  looked 
at  me  and  seeing  that  my  eyes 
were  open,  he  smoothed  my  head 
gently,  and  I  heard  him  say  to 
the  others,  "I've  got  permission 
ter  carry  the  dog  back  ter  the 
'Orspital,  w'ere  Tope  I'll  find 
somebody  to  'elp  me  with  'im." 

"Sure  enough  ye  will,  an'  I'll 
go  along  ter  tell  the  story  ter  the 
Surgeon,  fer  ye'll  niver  lat  'im 
know  it  all  yerself ,  if  I  knows  ye, 
Jack  Rice,"  said  another.  The 
first  man,  the  one  they  called  Rice, 
whom  I  knew  at  once  to  be  the 


56  ONLY  A  DOG 

kind  friend  who  had  saved  me  at 
the  risk  of  his  own  life,  picked  me 
up  as  gently  as  he  could,  and  though 
it  hurt  me  terribly,  I  licked  his 
hand  to  show  that  I  was  grateful, 
for  wag  my  tail  I  could  not.  He 
carried  me  out  into  the  night,  all 
the  time  whispering  in  my  ear, 
"Poor  little  laddie,  no  need  ter 
be  frightened,  ye're  with  friends 
now."  And  then  I  heard  him 
say  to  his  pal:  "The  poor  little 
bloke's  just  skin  an*  bones.  I'll 
bet  'e's  'ad  a  good  long  run  from 


somew'eres." 


As  we  went  what  seemed  to  me 
a  long,  long  way,  I  could  see  stars 
shining  above;  and  all  along  by 


ONLY  A  DOG  57 

the  roadside  the  shadows  of  big 
wagons,  and  of  horses  standing 
about,  and  I  supposed  this  must 
be  the  "army"  I  had  heard  my 
oldest  Master  talk  about,  that 
time,  now  so  far  away,  before  he 
left  home  to  join  it. 

Before  long  we  came  to  a  bright 
light  in  front  of  a  fine  big  house 
which  appeared  to  be  in  the  midst 
of  many  other  houses,  and  on  the 
door  I  saw  a  white  cloth  hanging, 
with  red  marks  across  it.  I  had 
never  seen  such  a  thing  before,  but 
now  of  course  I  know  that  it  was  the 
sign  of  the  Red  Cross,  to  show  every- 
body that  it  is  the  place  where  they 
can  find  help  and  comfort. 


58  ONLY  A  DOG 

We  went  in,  and  I  could  see 
Rice  trying,  with  difficulty,  having 
me  in  his  arms,  to  touch  his  cap 
to  somebody  who  asked  what  he 
wanted,  and  I  heard  him  say  that 
he  had  brought  a  poor  homeless 
dog  wounded  by  the  Germans,  and 
he  wanted  the  Surgeon  to  see  if 
he  couldn't  do  something  for  him. 
We  waited  some  time,  and  then  we 
went  into  a  room  where  everybody 
had  the  oddest  looking  white 
clothes  on,  and  I  heard  Rice's 
friend  telling  all  about  how  he  and 
Rice  were  " snipers"  and  had  seen 
me  coming  down  through  "No 
Man's  Land"  from  their  lookout, 
and  how,  "He  cum  a  trottin' 


ONLY  A  DOG  59 

along  jist  the  same's  ef  he'd  bin 
in  Hyde  Park,  his  head  an*  tail 
up  jist  as  sassy  as  yer  please"; 
and  then  all  the  rest  of  the  story. 

Before  he  finished  they  had 
taken  me  from  Rice  and  put  me 
on  a  table,  though  he  stood  close 
to  me  and  kept  his  hand  on  me. 

Then  they  gave  me  something 
very  nasty  to  smell,  and  I  strug- 
gled as  hard  as  I  could,  but  had 
to  give  in  at  last  feeling  very 
miserable  indeed.  My  only  com- 
fort, the  thought  that  this  kind 
man,  who  had  done  so  much  for 
me,  would  surely  not  let  anybody 
harm  me  now. 

After  what  seemed  only  a  few 


60  ONLY  A  DOG 

minutes  I  heard  a  strange  voice 
say,  "There,  my  man,  I  have  done 
all  I  can,  and  my  very  best,  in 
spite  of  it's  being  only  a  dog,  and 
glad  to  do  it  for  the  brave  fellow 
you  have  shown  yourself  to  be." 

There  it  was  again,  "only  a 
dog,"  and  feeling  quite  cross  with 
the  Surgeon,  I  showed  my  teeth 
when  he  put  his  hand  on  me  and 
determined  that  I  would  certainly 
try  to  do  something  if  I  lived,  to 
show  People  that  they  really  were 
the  ones  who  had  not  proper 
understanding.  However,  he  had 
at  least  praised  my  kind  friend, 
and  for  that  I  was  grateful,  so  I 
listened  quietly  while  he  explained 


ONLY  A  DOG  61 

that  he  thought  if  I  were  kept  very 
quiet,  and  well  looked  after,  I 
might  get  well,  and  that  I  could 
be  left  there  if  Rice  wished.  You 
can  imagine  how  delighted  I  was 
to  hear  my  friend  say  he  thought 
it  would  be  best  to  take  me  back 
with  him,  where  he  could  look 
after  me  himself. 

When  we  got  back  it  was  be- 
ginning to  be  light,  and  I  could 
see  that  we  went  down  into  the 
earth  where  there  were  quite  nice 
rooms  dug  out,  and  I  was  made 
comfortable  on  a  sort  of  bed  in  the 
corner  of  one  of  them.  As  the 
days  went  by,  everybody  tried  to 
do  something  for  me,  and  the  men 


62  ONLY  A  DOG 

would  come  and  bring  me  things 
to  eat,  until  Rice  said,  "'E'll  be 
dead  spoilt,  the  little  beggar." 
They  all  had  something  to  say  too 
about  what  I  should  be  called, 
for  after  they  had  tried  every 
name  they  could  think  of  and  I 
would  not  answer,  they  said  I 
must  have  a  new  name.  They 
suggested  all  kinds  of  names  which 
did  not  interest  me  at  all,  and 
at  last  my  dear  Master  said  I 
should  be  called  "Army, "  because 
I  belonged  to  it;  and  that  made 
me  feel  very  proud. 

Of  course  I  was  often  alone 
while  I  was  too  ill  to  move,  and 
had  a  great  deal  of  time  to  think. 


ONLY  A  DOG  63 

I  felt  very  sorry  that  I  had  never 
found  my  little  Master  Jean  nor 
any  of  his  dear  People,  but  I 
could  not  see  that  it  was  my  fault, 
and  I  realized  that  I  never  again 
should  be  able  to  travel  about  the 
country  looking  for  them,  so  it 
was  best  to  put  them  out  of  my 
mind,  and  to  take  this  good  kind 
friend  for  my  Master. 

The  time  I  came  to  this  con- 
clusion was  one  morning  when  my 
dear  Master  was  getting  ready  to 
go  out  to  his  sniping  post,  and 
feeling  for  the  first  time  that  I 
could  move  a  little,  I  crawled  off 
the  bed  and  dragged  myself  to 
where  he  stood  and  laid  myself 


64  ONLY  A  DOG 

down  at  his  feet.  He  seemed  very 
delighted  and  began  to  talk  to 
me  just  as  if  he  understood  per- 
fectly how  I  felt.  He  did  under- 
stand, for  he  said,  Oh!  so  kindly, 
"Yes,  boy,  I  know  ye're  grateful, 
and  so  am  I,  for  I  used  ter  be  so 
lonely,  an'  now  ye're  gettin'  well, 
we'll  be  chums  tergether  allus, 
won't  we?"  I  licked  his  hand  and 
did  my  best,  weak  as  I  was,  to 
show  my  joy,  and  then  he  put  me 
back  on  my  bed  and  went  out. 

After  this  began  the  very  hap- 
piest time  of  my  life,  for  although 
I  never  got  well  enough  to  run 
hard  as  before,  I  was  able  to 
trot  about  after  my  dear  Master, 


ONLY  A  DOG  65 

and  am  glad  to  think  I  never  left 
him  day  or  night. 

Most  of  the  men  had  to  sleep 
in  the  daytime,  and  work  at 
night,  but  my  Master,  because 
he  was  a  ' 'sniper,"  had  to  sit  or 
stand  all  day  looking  out  for  the 
enemy;  and  every  now  and  then 
shooting.  I  stayed  always  with 
him,  and  he  talked  to  me  con- 
stantly, and  always  told  me  what 
he  saw  and  whether  he  had  hit 
anyone.  Once  I  got  so  excited 
when  he  was  particularly  pleased, 
I  jumped  about  and  barked  out 
loud,  but  I  never  did  it  again,  for 
in  a  second  the  bullets  began  to 
come  around  us  and  my  Master 

5 


66  ONLY  A  DOG 

had  to  crouch  down  on  the  ground 
with  me  for  safety.  He  was  never 
angry,  but  he  spoke  very  seriously 
to  me  about  this,  and  said:  "  Army 
must  never  do  such  a  thing  again, 
because  it  shows  the  h'enemy  jus' 
w'ere  the  lookout  is." 

There  were  days  when  every- 
thing was  quiet,  and  it  seemed 
hardly  worth  while  for  us  to  keep 
such  close  watch.  Then  my 
Master  would  say,  "It's  dull, 
Army,  me  boy,  but  I'll  just  keep 
watchin'  an'  maybe  I'll  get  a  shot 
at  Fritzie  w'en  'e  ain't  a  thinkin'  " ; 
and  there  were  other  days  when 
there  would  be  the  most  frightful 
noises,  and  he  would  say,  "Frit- 


I  kept  a  close  watch  for  the  rats.' 
67 


68  ONLY  A  DOG 

zie's  puttin'  over  some  'eavy  stuff 
terday,  boy;  it's  gettin'  a  bit  too 
close  f er  my  taste. ' '  But  whatever 
came,  he  was  always  at  his  post, 
and  I  with  him. 

At  night  when  he  slept  I  kept 
a  close  watch  for  the  rats,  so  that 
he  should  not  be  disturbed,  and 
before  long  I  had  killed  so  many 
of  them,  they  passed  the  word 
along  among  themselves  and  dared 
not  come  within  earshot  of  me. 

Sometimes  at  night  too  there 
was  terrible  fighting,  and  one 
night  my  Master  never  went  to 
bed  at  all,  and  he  told  me  that 
they  were  going  to  make  a  big 
"push/'  and  that  when  the  word 


ONLY  A  DOG  69 

came  for  the  men  to  dash  out  I 
had  better  stay  behind,  for  he 
might  be  killed,  and  I  might  too, 
and  that  I  couldn't  do  any  good. 

I  listened  to  him  and  made  no 
answer  of  course,  but  privately 
I  determined  that  I  should  go 
wherever  he  went,  for  if  he  had 
to  be  killed  I  certainly  did  not 
want  to  live  without  him,  and  I 
might  be  a  help  somehow. 

We  watched  and  waited  a  long 
time,  and  the  thundering  guns 
made  a  horrible  din,  and  the  shells 
screeched  through  the  air  "like 
lost  souls/'  my  Master  said,  and 
then  suddenly  I  heard  a  loud  voice 
call  " Forward!"  and  "Come  on! 


70  ONLY  A  DOG 

get  on!  you  blitherers!  Let  'em 
have  steel!  curse  'em!" 

We  dashed  outside  the  trench 
with  all  the  others,  and  found  it 
was  just  beginning  to  be  a  little 
light  in  the  sky,  and  we  could  just 
see  the  enemy  rushing  towards 
us,  as  we  ran  towards  them,  all  of 
us  meaning  death  and  destruction, 
just  as  hard  as  ever  we  could.  It 
was  horrible  the  way  the  men 
killed,  and  killed,  and  killed,  and 
I  was  glad  enough  to  keep  always 
at  my  Master's  heels,  and  when 
he  struggled  with  a  "Hun"  I 
helped  all  I  could,  and  bit,  and 
scratched. 

At  last  after  it  had  gone  on  a 


ONLY  A  DOG  71 

long  time,  a  big  "German"  (I 
knew  him  by  his  pointed  cap)  got 
my  Master  down,  and  just  as  he 
lifted  his  arm  with  a  big  gleaming 
knife  to  kill  him,  I  jumped  and 
caught  him  by  the  throat,  and  he 
was  so  astonished,  besides  being 
weak  from  loss  of  blood,  I  suppose, 
I  was  able  to  shake  him  to  death 
just  as  I  did  a  rat.  My  Master 
lay  quite  still  and  I  was  afraid 
he  was  dead,  but  I  stayed  by  him, 
and  presently  the  battle  swept 
on  and  we  were  left  behind. 

After  a  long  time  my  dear 
Master  stirred  a  little,  and  opened 
his  eyes  when  I  licked  his  face,  so, 
feeling  very  happy  and  joyful  I 


72  ONLY  A  DOG 

looked  around  for  help.  In  the 
distance  I  saw  the  stretcher  men 
and  I  ran  to  them,  calling  for 
help  as  best  I  could.  They  knew 
me  and  were  glad  to  follow  where 
I  led,  for  they  said  to  each  other, 
"Rice  must  be  there " — and  every- 
body loved  him. 

I  heard  them  say  it  was  "a  bad 
job  " ;  but  they  tied  up  his  wounds, 
and  carried  him  all  the  way  back 
to  the  Hospital  where  he  had  taken 
me,  and  I  followed  very  close,  but 
alas!  when  they  went  inside  they 
let  the  door  slam  quickly,  and  I, 
not  expecting  such  a  thing,  was 
left  outside  alone;  and,  very  sor- 
rowfully, I  sat  down  to  wait. 


VI 

"Brave  men  are  created  by  brave  men." 
Sir  MAX  AITKEN  : ' '  Canada  in  Flanders." 

T  WAS  perfectly  determined  to 
get  inside  that  door  no  matter 
what  happened,  and  I  knew  the 
best  way  was  to  make  no  noise  but 
just  to  wait  quietly,  and  sure 
enough  it  was  not  so  very  long  be- 
fore the  stretcher  men  themselves 
opened  it  to  come  out.  I  was  not 
going  to  lose  my  chance  a  second 
time,  so  I  did  not  stop  to  speak  to 
them  but  rushed  in  between  their 
legs  before  they  could  stop  me. 

73 


74  ONLY  A  DOG 

Once  inside  I  had  no  notion 
where  to  find  my  dear  Master, 
but  I  went  smelling  around  the 
big  entrance  hall  until  at  last  I 
found  the  bearers  had  been  up  the 
stairs.  I  bounded  up  in  a  per- 
fect agony  of  anxiety,  and  just  at 
the  top  I  met  a  woman  in  a  white 
dress  with  the  red  mark  on  her 
sleeve.  She  looked  at  me  in 
surprise  and  exclaimed  in  a  kind 
voice,  "Why,  you  dear  doggie! 
How  did  you  come  to  be  here? 
What  do  you  want?" 

Then  she  took  my  head  in  her 
hands  and  looking  into  my  eyes 
seemed  to  try  her  best  to  under- 
stand, while  I  looked  at  her 


ONLY  A  DOG  75 

earnestly  and  licked  her  hands. 
After  a  minute  she  said,  "I  don't 
think  you  had  better  stay  here, 
little  dog,  come,  come  down  with 
me/'  and  as  I  did  not  move  she 
took  hold  of  me,  and  tried  to  force 
me  to  go  down.  I  really  could  not 
stand  that,  so  I  just  bared  my 
teeth  and  growled  gently  to  show 
her  what  I  meant,  and  she  must 
have  understood,  for  she  let  me 
go,  and  said  she  would  have  to 
speak  to  the  "Officer." 

I  did  not  wait  to  hear  any  more, 
you  may  be  sure,  but  ran  smelling 
and  sniffling  about  under  the  doors 
which  were  all  shut  tight,  until  I 
came  to  one  I  was  certain  must  be 


76  ONLY  A  DOG 

the  right  one,  for  I  could  tell  that 
the  bearers  had  been  through  it. 
What  with  anxiety  and  the  dust 
I  had  snuffled  up  my  nose,  I  began 
to  shiver,  and  sneezed  several 
times,  and  though  I  tried  to  make 
as  little  noise  as  possible  somebody 
inside  must  have  heard  me,  for 
the  door  opened  a  little  crack, 
enough  for  me  to  get  my  nose  in, 
and  before  the  Person  could  think 
to  stop  me,  I  had  pushed  my  way 
into  the  room. 

What  I  saw  there  I  hate  to  think 
about,  for  it  was  my  Master  who 
was  lying  on  the  table  bleeding  and 
being  bound  and  washed,  so  I  just 
ran  under  the  bed  in  the  corner 


ONLY  A  DOG  7T 

t 

and  lay  quite  still  hoping  they 
were  too  busy  to  bother  me.  After 
awhile  I  could  see  from  where  I 
was  lying  that  the  Person  who  was 
working  over  my  dear  Master 
was  the  Surgeon  who  had  taken 
care  of  me,  and  though  I  had 
never  forgotten  that  he  had  said 
I  was  "only  a  dog, "  I  believed  he 
would  understand  that  I  must  stay 
and  watch. 

When  he  seemed  to  have  finished, 
I  heard  him  say,  "I  believe  I 
know  this  man,  and  if  he  is  the  one 
I  think  he  is,  we  must  make  every 
possible  effort  to  save  him,  for  he 
is  the  kind  England  cannot  now 
afford  to  lose."  When  I  heard 


78  ONLY  A  DOG 

him  speak  that  way  I  got  up  from 
my  hiding  place  and  went  boldly 
to  him  and  rubbed  my  head 
against  his  leg  to  make  him  notice 
me.  He  looked  down  and  said, 
"Hullo,  little  man,  is  it  you?"  and 
then  to  the  others:  "It  is  the 
man  I  meant,  sure  enough,  for  this 
is  his  dog,  the  one  he  saved.  When 
he  revives  it  will  probably  give 
him  heart  to  see  his  little  comrade, 
so  unless  the  dog  gives  you  trouble 
you  may  let  him  stay."  I  just 
laid  right  down  on  the  floor  with 
a  deep  sigh  when  I  heard  this,  I 
was  so  happy. 

They  were  too  busy  to  think 
any  more  about  me  just  then,  and 


ONLY  A  DOG  79 

when  they  had  put  my  dear 
Master  on  the  bed  in  the  corner 
I  lay  down  beside  him,  and  soon 
the  table  and  all  the  horrid  looking 
things  were  taken  away,  and  we 
were  left  alone  in  peace,  just  my 
Master  and  me. 

I  raised  myself  up  on  my 
haunches  so  that  I  could  watch 
him,  and  wished  as  hard  as  I 
could  that  I  might  see  him  open 
his  eyes.  A  long  time  passed 
and  once  in  a  while  a  " nurse" 
(as  I  found  they  called  the  women 
in  white  dresses)  would  put  her 
head  in  the  door,  and  go  quietly 
away  again.  I  had  begun  to 
despair,  when  all  at  once  I  saw 


80  ONLY  A  DOG 

my  Master  move  his  hands  a 
little,  and  this  made  me  so  very- 
joyful  I  reached  up  and  licked  his 
face,  very  gently,  and  then,  just 
imagine  my  feelings,  when  I  saw 
the  dear  eyes  open  and  heard  a 
very  faint  voice  say,  "Army, — 
dear  little  laddie. "  That  was 
all,  but  it  was  enough,  and  the 
next  time  a  nurse  came  to  the 
door,  I  frisked  silently  around 
the  room  to  show  her  that  all 
was  well. 

Well,  after  this,  my  Master  got 
better  and  we  went  to  live  in  a 
great  big  room  where  there  were  a 
lot  of  other  wounded  men  lying 
in  the  rows  of  beds,  and  everybody 


ONLY  A  DOG  81 

was  my  friend,  and  they  never 
tried  to  send  me  away.  When  he 
was  feeling  well  enough  I  used  to 
lie  on  the  bed  very  close  to  him, 
but  sometimes  he'd  say,  "Get 
down  now,  please,  Army  laddie, 
I  carn't  bear  you  now,"  and  then 
I  would  lie  under  the  bed,  or  sit 
beside  it  and  watch  him. 

Those  times  when  I  lay  beside 
him,  he  would  talk  to  me  of  Eng- 
land, and  of  London,  and  how, 
though  he  liked  the  country  well 
enough,  he  loved  the  London 
streets  even  better.  "  I  used  ter  be 
a  queer  little  bloke, " he'd  say,  "I 
was  carrier  fer  a  big  bookshop  h'in 
Piccadilly  an'  I  just  got  ter  luv 


82  ONLY  A  DOG 

the  books  like  they  was  'umans. 
I  luved  the  very  smell  uv  'em,  an 
'orfen  I'd  get  a  chawnce  ter  know 
sumthin'  about  the  h'insides  too. 
There  was  one  chap  by  nayme  uv 
Kiplin'  now,  'e  wrote  such  things, 
laddie,  as  stirred  the  'eart,  an* 
made  me  want  ter  fight  fer  Eng- 
land w'en  the  time  came,  as  I'd 
never  thought  I  would. "  Some- 
times he  would  repeat  to  me  over 
and  over  words  he  had  learned  in 
those  days.  There  was  one  verse 
he  said  so  often  I  got  to  know  it 
well  myself,  and  the  men  in  the 
beds  all  round  would  ask  him  to 
say  it  again  and  again,  until  at 
last  it  got  to  be  a  regular  thing 


ONLY  A  DOG  83 

when  they  were  all  dressed  in  the 
morning. 

He  would  ask  to  be  propped  up 
on  his  pillows,  and  he  would  make 
me  sit  up  in  front  of  him,  and  then 
he'd  say  so  proudly, 

"If  England  was  what  England  seems, 
An'  not  the  England  of  our  dreams, 
But  only  putty,  brass,  an*  paint, — 
'Ow  quick  we'd  chuck  'er!    But  she 
ain't!" 

When  he  came  to  the  last  words 
the  men  all  over  the  room  would 
shout  them  out  just  as  loud  as 
they  could,— "But  she  ain't!" 
though  some  of  the  poor  things 
could  hardly  more  than  whisper, 
and  then  I  was  allowed  to  join  in, 


"But  she  ain't  I" 
84 


ONLY  A  DOG  85 

and  always  gave  one  loud  bark  as 
a  finish.  The  first  time  we  did  it 
I  got  so  excited  I  jumped  off  the 
bed  and  ran  all  up  and  down  the 
room  barking  as  loud  as  I  could, 
but  I  never  did  it  again,  because 
the  nurse  my  Master  called 
"  Sister, "  who  was  my  special 
friend,  explained  to  me  that  it 
made  too  much  noise  and  excite- 
ment for  all  the  sick  People. 

Things  went  on  this  way  for 
some  time  until  one  morning  I 
heard  the  Surgeon  tell  "Sister" 
that  he  was  very  much  afraid 
Rice  would  not  "pull  through " 
after  all,  and  that  he  had  better 
be  moved  back  to  the  private 


86  ONLY  A  DOG 

room  and  kept  very  quiet,  and 
that  perhaps  the  dog  had  better 
not  be  allowed  in,  though  he'd 
leave  that  to  her  "judgment." 
I  didn't  understand  the  meaning 
of  that  last  word,  and  I  searched 
all  around  her  to  see  if  I  could  find 
anything  that  looked  like  it,  but 
she  saw  how  worried  I  was  and 
just  patted  me  on  the  head  and 
said,  "You  shall  stay,  little  Army, 
for  I  know  you'll  be  good,  you 
dear  little  boy,  when  I've  explained 
to  you." 

They  soon  moved  him  back  to 
that  quiet  place  and  I  could  see 
that  he  was  feeling  very  low  in  his 
mind,  so  I  stayed  quite  close  by  to 


ONLY  A  DOG  87 

comfort  him,  and  kept  very,  very 
quiet,  hardly  daring  even  to  lick 
myself;  for  I  didn't  need  to  be 
told  that  he  was  very  near  to  death. 


VII 

"An1  last  it  come  to  me — not  pride, 
Nor  yet  conceit,  but  on  the  'ole 
(If  such  a  term  may  be  applied), 
The  makin's  of  a  bloomin'  soul." 

— KIPLING. 

"THINGS  went  just  about  the 
same  for  several  days,  and 
you  can  imagine  that  I  was  happy 
to  hear ' '  Sister ' '  say  to  the  Surgeon, 
"Please,  Sir,  don't  think  of  taking 
Army  away,  he  is  such  a  help,  he 
watches  just  like  a  sensible  human 
being,  and  if  anything  happened  I 
know  he  would  come  and  find  me, " 
so  I  was  never  troubled  by  anybody. 

88 


ONLY  A  DOG  89 

My  dear  Master  suffered  a  great 
deal,  but  often  he  seemed  to  find 
comfort  in  repeating  some  of  the 
verses  of  the  "Kiplin"'  he  loved. 
Sometimes  it  would  be  one  thing 
and  then  another,  but  what  he 
seemed  to  love  most  then  was  the 
part  about  "a  bloomin'  soul," 
for  whenever  he  said  that,  he 
would  smile  and  look  so  sort  of 
satisfied;  and  then  once  in  the 
night,  he  raised  his  head  quite  high 
and  said  almost  in  his  old  voice, 

"Judge  of  the  Nations,  spare  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget— lest  we  forget!" 

I  knew  quite  well  that  he  meant 
we  must  never  forget  the  dreadful 


90  ONLY  A  DOG 

things  those  terrible  big  "Ger- 
mans" had  done  to  us,  and  I  for 
one  never-  shall. 

It  must  have  been  a  great  effort 
to  him  to  say  those  words,  for  his 
head  fell  back  on  the  pillow,  and 
he  never  moved  again  all  the  rest  of 
the  night.  When  morning  came 
I  had  gone  fast  asleep,  and  was 
waked  up  by  hearing  "Sister's" 
voice  saying  to  someone:  "It  is  all 
over  at  last";  and  then  I  knew 
that  he  had  not  moved  because  he 
was  dead,  just  like  so  many  I  had 
seen,  only  he  looked  quite  as  if 
he  were  at  peace,  and  not  horrible, 
like  some  of  the  others. 

They  tried  to  get  me  away,  but 


ONLY  A  DOG  91 

I  wouldn't  move,  and  as  I  never 
interfered  whatever  they  did,  nor 
made  a  fuss  when  they  put  him  in 
a  box  and  carried  it  out,  they  let 
me  follow.  I  watched  them  put 
him  on  the  great  big  wagon,  and 
waited  while  our  regiment  gathered 
together,  and  then  I  followed  him, 
close  behind,  until  they  brought 
him  here,  and  put  him  in  this  place 
they  call  a  "grave."  Then  the 
regiment  stood  at  "'tention"  and 
some  of  the  men  stood  out  from  the 
others  in  a  row,  and  fired  guns,  all 
together;  and  I  knew  they  must  be 
doing  it  because  they  loved  him. 

I  had  been  dreadfully  unhappy 
for  I  had  thought  that  to  be  dead 


92  ONLY  A  DOG 

was  the  end,  but  there  was  a  man 
in  odd  clothes  there,  "Chaplain" 
they  called  him,  who  read  some 
nice  comforting  sounding  words 
out  of  a  big  book.  When  I  heard 
him  say  that  a  trumpet  should 
sound,  and  the  dead  arise,  I  took 
heart  again,  and  just  determined 
to  stay  right  here,  until  what  he 
promised  really  happens.  I  should 
not  like  my  dear  good  Master  to 
wake  and  not  find  me  waiting. 

When  they  were  going  away, 
some  of  the  soldiers  I  knew  best 
tried  to  get  me  to  go  with  them, 
but  though  I  was  quite  willing  to 
follow  them  as  far  as  the  gate,  I 
would  not  go  any  farther,  for  I  had 


ONLY  A  DOG  93 

learned  only  too  well  that  if  I 
went  outside,  and  the  gate  shut 
tight  behind  me,  I  might  never  get 
in  again.  One  of  them,  the  one 
I  had  loved  best  next  to  my  Master, 
tried  to  take  me  in  his  arms  and 
carry  me  out,  and  though  I  hated 
to  seem  ungrateful,  I  had  to  show 
him  what  I  would  do  if  he  did  not 
let  me  alone,  so  they  saw  they 
must  let  me  have  my  own  way,  and 
went  off.  I  came  back  here  and 
laid  down  on  my  Master's  breast 
hoping  that  I  might  help  him  to 
keep  warm,  and  I  must  say  it 
seemed  a  very  long  dismal  time 
before  morning  came  again.  When 
it  did,  I  got  up  feeling  very  stiff 


94  ONLY  A  DOG 

and  sore,  and  walked  about  the 
place,  which  I  had  heard  them  call 
a  "  cemetery, "  and  I  saw  that  it 
was  almost  full  of  "  graves "  just 
like  my  Master's,  and  that  each 
one  had  a  cross  at  the  end  of.it. 

While  I  was  walking  and  look- 
ing about  I  heard  a  whistle,  sound- 
ing from  the  gate,  and  running 
towards  it  was  delighted  to  see  the 
same  kind  friend  who  had  wanted 
to  take  me  away.  I  showed  him 
how  happy  I  was  to  see  him,  and 
then  he  gave  me  some  food  he  had 
thought  to  bring  me.  I  ate  it  all 
up  very  quickly  for  it  was  a  long 
time  since  anyone  had  thought  to 
feed  me,  and  when  I  had  finished, 


ONLY  A  DOG  95 

I  did  everything  I  could  to  show 
my  gratitude;  but  when  he  tried 
again  to  make  me  follow  him,  I 
just  turned  my  back,  and  walked 
over  here  to  this  spot,  where  I 
have  lived  all  the  long  weary  time 
since. 

He  came  again  the  next  morning 
with  more  food,  and  every  day  in 
all  this  long  time,  he,  or  someone 
else,  has  done  the  same;  and  he 
brought  one  day  my  dear  Master's 
coat  and  spread  it  for  me  to  lie  on, 
and  it  was  Oh!  such  a  comfort,  to 
have  something  which  seemed  a 
part  of  him  to  keep  me  warm. 

One  day  after  a  long  time  he 
came  and  brought  a  perfect  stran- 


96  ONLY  A  DOG 

ger  who  wore  some  different  look- 
ing things,  and  I  heard  them 
talking  to  each  other  about  our 
regiment  being  ordered  away.  He 
said  the  new  man  must  tell  his 
regiment  about  me,  and  must 
"Promise  faithful  ter  luk  arter  the 
pore  little  faithful  chap,  an'  pass 
'im  on,"  if  another  regiment  came. 
Of  course  I  understood  very  well 
what  they  were  talking  about, 
and  I  could  hardly  bear  to  let  my 
friend  leave  me,  and  I  showed 
him  so  very  plainly,  but  he  had 
to  go  I  know,  for  as  my  dear  Mas- 
ter used  to  say,  "A  soldier  'as  got 
ter  obey  h'orders,  Army,  no  matter 
wot  he  thinks  uv  'em." 


ONLY  A  DOG  97 

The  new  man  was  very  kind, 
and  in  time  I  got  to  be  quite  fond 
of  him  and  of  the  others  in  his  regi- 
ment who  came  when  he  could  not, 
but  of  course  they  were  never  quite 
like  the  old  friends  I  had  lived  with 
so  long.  They  did  the  very  best 
they  could  for  me,  and  when  the 
time  came  for  them  to  go,  they 
brought  somebody  from  the  new 
regiment  and  made  them  promise 
just  the  same  as  they  had  done, 
to  look  after  me,  and  if  they  had  to 
leave  to  turn  me  over  to  the  new 
ones.  When  the  time  came  that 
this  happened,  I  heard  them  say- 
ing that  it  had  become  "a  sacred 
charge  handed  down  from  the 


98  ONLY  A  DOG 

famous  42nd — s, "  and  that  no- 
body would  ever  dare  to  neglect  a 
legacy  of  theirs.  So  for  this  rea- 
son, or  because  they  were  just 
kind,  I  never  wanted  for  anything, 
and  each  regiment  that  came 
seemed  almost  kinder  than  the 
last. 

One  thing  I  do  not  understand 
is,  why  they  all  have  the  same 
name  of  "Tommy,"  and  I  often 
wish  I  could  ask  my  dear  Master  to 
explain  it  to  me,  but  of  course  I 
can't,  and  I  just  have  to  be  patient 
about  that,  as  about  many  other 
things. 

Lately,  the  longing  for  my  dear 
Master  to  wake  up  and  let  me  be 


ONLY  A  DOG  99 

somewhere  with  him  where  we 
could  be  a  little  warmer  and  more 
comfortable  has  been  almost  more 
than  I  can  bear,  for  I  have  felt 
so  very,  very  tired,  and  would  not 
have  touched  the  food  the  Tommies 
brought  me  if  they  hadn't  seemed 
so  very  disappointed.  To-night  the 
latest  Tommy  was  particularly 
kind,  and  I  did  hope  his  feelings 
wouldn't  be  hurt,  but  I  just 
couldn't  eat,  nor  even  swallow  a 
drop  of  water. 

He  sat  by  me  a  long  time,  and 
it  was  very  comforting  to  feel  his 
warm  hand  gently  smoothing  me, 
and  to  hear  his  kind  voice  saying, 
"Pore  little  Army,  pore  little  chap, 


ioo  ONLY  A  DOG 

it's  almost  finished,  you  won't 
'ave  ter  wait  much  longer." 

Then  I  felt  something  hot  and 
wet  drop  on  my  head  and  I  knew 
he  was  crying;  a  luxury  I  have 
often  wished  I  might  indulge  in, 
for  it  always  seems  to  be  such  a 
comfort  to  People.  But  I  never 
could,  though  I've  tried  often. 

I  had  heard  the  bugle  sounding 
and  I  knew  he  ought  to  go,  but  he 
waited  and  waited,  and  fidgeted  a 
bit,  but  at  last  said  with  a  sigh, 
"I  do  'ate  ter  leave  yer,  boy,  but 
I  must,  so  good-bye  little  faithful 
one,  an'  w'en  my  time  comes  may 
I  'ave  done  'arf  as  well. " 

He  went  away  then,  and  feeling 


ONLY  A  DOG  101 

very  desolate,  I  tried  to  lift  my 
head  a  little  to  look  around  me. 

It  was  still  light,  and  it  looked 
to  me  very  beautiful,  for  the  apple- 
trees  in  the  cemetery,  which  they 
had  made  in  an  orchard,  were  in 
full  bloom,  and  I  had  heard  my 
friends  say  that  "Spring"  had 
come.  It  seems  very  wonderful 
to  me  that  the  trees,  so  dead  all 
Winter,  should  be  covered  now 
with  these  lovely  flowers,  which  I 
love  to  have  fall  over  me  and  my 
dear  Master,  and  I  cannot  help 
hoping  it  means  that  it  is  nearly 
time  for  him  to  wake.  He  has 
slept  so  long. 

It  is  strangely  cold  just  now,  and 


102  ONLY  A  DOG 

is  growing  very  dark.  ...  I 
wish  that  kind  Tommy  could  have 
stayed.  ...  It  is  so  very  hard 
to  be  alone  to-night;  I  wonder 
why?.  ...  I  never  minded  it 
before. 

Dear,  dear  Master!  If  you 
would  only  come !  Even  your  dear 
coat  does  not  warm  me  any  more! 
....  So  tired — so — very — 
tired 


AFTER 

"Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

— REVELATION  ii.,  10. 

HTHE  next  morning  "The  Latest 
Tommy'*  asked  to  speak  to 
his  nearest  "  Non  Com., "  and  what 
he  said  so  puzzled  that  worthy, 
he  was  for  a  moment  speechless. 
Then  scratching  his  head  reflec- 
tively he  answered,  "Well,  I  can't 
say,  I'm  sure;  there's  nobody  but 
the  Colonel  himself  could  give  the 
order.  If  I  could  get  the  message 

up  to  him  now,  through  all   the 
103 


104  ONLY  A  DOG 

others,  he's  such  a  good  sort,  he 
might  say  to  put  it  through. 
Anyhow,  Tommy,  me  boy,  we  can 
but  try." 

The  message  was  evidently  one 
which  worked  its  way,  for  by  mid- 
day "The  Latest  Tommy "  was 
sent  for  by  the  great  man  him- 
self. 

Very  nervous,  not  feeling  at  all 
sure  how  his  request  might  be 
taken,  he  was  ushered  into  the 
Colonel's  own  private  den  and 
found  him  sitting  at  a  table  ab- 
sorbed in  writing.  With  feet  which 
seemed  to  him  to  take  up  all  the 
room,  and  hands  which  would  not 
keep  still,  "Tommy"  stood  whirl- 


ONLY  A  DOG  105 

ing  his  cap  round  and  round  in  a 
perfect  agony,  until  he  suddenly 
became  aware  of  a  stern  voice, 
saying:  "Stop  twirling  that  cap, 
my  man,  and  answer  me.  You  are 
Private  S. — ?  and  you  made  a 
singular  request  of  your  Non  Com. 
this  morning, — am  I  right? 

1 1  Ye — yes — Sir,  ' '  stammered 
Tommy. 

"  Well,  speak  up,  I'm  very  busy, 
but  I'm  also  interested,  what  is 
it?" 

1  'It's  about  the  little  dog 
'Army,'  Sir,  wot  you  must  'ave 
'eard  uv,  Sir.  The  little  faithful 
fellow's  laid  on  his  Master's  grave 
all  winter  long,  an'  now  this 


106  ONLY  A  DOG 

mornin',  Vs  dead.  Mebbe  yer 
'aven't  rightly  'card  the  story,  Sir, 
'ow  Rice  in  the  42nd — s  crept  out 
into  No  Man's  Land  an'  brought 
the  little  beggar  'ome  in  the  face 
uv  the  h'enemy's  fire,  an'  'ow  'e 
an'  the  doctor  mended  'im  w'ere 
they  devils  'ad  shot  'im,  an'  'ow 
'e  stuck  tight  ter  Rice  allus,  an* 
couldn'  by  no  manner  nor  means 
be  forced  ter  leave  'is  grave  w'en 
Rice  died,  Sir,  an'  'ow  the  Reg'ment 
fed  'im  'an'  looked  arfter  'im,  an' 
guv  'im  ter  the  next,  an'  the  next, 
h'until  'e  cum  down  ter  us,  Sir. 
Larst  night  I  feared  'e  was  a  dyin', 
an'  h'it  mos'  broke  me  'eart  ter 
leave  'im  alone;  an*  now,  Sir,  wot 


ONLY  A  DOG  107 

we  wants  is,  ter  pay  'im  some 
sort  uv  'onor,  Sir,  like  wot  'is  own 
Reg'ment  would  'a  done.  Ef  yer 
please,  Sir,  ef  yer  cud  let  the  Reg'- 
ment go  out,  as  many  as  cud,  an' 
let  us  'ave  the  bugle  call;  us  men 
'd  all  thank  yer,  Sir,  fer  lettin' 
alone  luvin'  the  little  chap,  Sir, 
we  don't  none  uv  us  want  the 
42nd — s  ter  think  we've  failed 
'em." 

As  he  ended  his  breathless  little 
speech,  "The  Latest  Tommy" 
was  not  ashamed  openly  to  wipe 
his  eyes. 

The  Colonel  also  seemed  to  find 
something  of  unusual  interest  on 
his  desk,  but  at  last  he  looked  up 


io8  ONLY  A  DOG 

and  said,  "I'm  glad  to  hear  the 
story,  S.,  and  I  will  give  orders  that 
it  may  be  done  as  you  and  the 
others  wish.  Of  course  it  will  have 
to  be  about  sunset,  when  our  friend 
Fritz  over  there  generally  gives  us 
a  rest/' 

Saluting  with  a  fervor  he  had 
never  experienced  before,  The  Lat- 
est Tommy  hurried  away,  and  late 
that  afternoon,  for  some  time  be- 
fore sunset,  men  in  full  accoutre- 
ments might  have  been  seen  in 
little  groups  finding  their  way  back 
to  the  cemetery  behind  the  town. 

There  in  the  beautiful  field  of 
the  dead  under  the  blossoming 
apple-trees,  a  full  company  gath- 


ONLY  A  DOG  109 

ered  and  watched  "The  Latest 
Tommy"  and  another,  as  they 
wrapped  the  little  body  in  the 
Master's  cloak  and  laid  it  carefully 
in  the  small  grave  made  as  close  as 
possible  to  the  big  one.  Then 
when  the  spade  had  done  its  work 
with  the  very  same  sound  we  all 
know  so  well,  the  loud  sharp  com- 
mand of  "Shun"!  was  heard,  and 
the  company  stood  rigid  in  honor 
of  the  little  faithful  soldier,  until 
a  bugle,  clear  and  sweet,  sounded 
the  "Retreat."  The  call  of  the 
dying  Day  to  the  vanished 
Sun.  .  .  . 

By   twos  and  threes  the  men 
silently  melted  away,  until   "The 


I io  ONLY  A  DOG 

Latest  Tommy"  found  himself 
alone,  as  he  smoothed  the  grave 
and  tidied  up  the  ground  around  it. 

When  all  was  finished  to  his  sat- 
isfaction, he  rested  on  his  spade, 
and  said  with  a  deep  sigh,  "I'll 
miss  the  little  beggar,  though  I'm 
glad  'is  sufferin'  's  over. 

"I  wonder  now,  I  do,  .  .  . 
'Ere's  all  these  chaps  lyin*  'ere 
dead,  they  guv  their  lives  cos 
they  knew  good  'ol  Hengland 
needed  'em;  an'  Army  'ere,  'e 
guv  'is  cos  'e  thought  'is  friend 
needed  'im.  .  .  .  All  uv  'em 
faithful  'til  death,  ..." 

Silent  and  thoughtful,  he  stood 
under  the  darkening  sky,  looking 


ONLY  A  DOG 


in 


up  at  the  stars  as  they  twinkled 
one  by  one  out  of  the  blue.  .  .  . 
Then  lifting  his  cap  reverently,  he 
said  slowly  .  .  .  "I  wonder,  I  do 
.  .  but  Gawd  .  .  .  9E  knows." 


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